Saints Capital Files $251M SAINTS Secondaries Fund I: Ken Sawyer's 25-Year GP-Led Secondary Firm Opens Its Largest Vehicle

Saints Capital filed SAINTS Secondaries Fund I LP as a Venture Capital Fund on August 24 at $251.4 million. Kenneth B. Sawyer is named as key person. The $251.4 million filing is notable for two reasons: it is the largest single VC vehicle filed on August 24 other than AMDT Resilience, and it is Saints Capital's largest vehicle by name in the August tracking window, representing a significant step up in fund size for a firm whose prior vehicles have been smaller in scale. The fund's name, "SAINTS Secondaries Fund I," suggests a dedicated secondaries-focused vehicle rather than a general direct investment fund, consistent with Saints Capital's historical specialisation in GP-led secondary transactions.

Who Saints Capital Is

Saints Capital was founded in 2000 by David Quinlivan and Kenneth Sawyer. The firm specialises in GP-led venture secondary transactions, a category where the seller is typically the general partner of a venture fund rather than an individual limited partner. GP-led secondaries take several forms: a continuation fund that allows a GP to move select portfolio companies into a new vehicle while offering existing LPs the choice to roll over or exit; a tender offer where a GP facilitates liquidity for LPs who want to sell their positions; or a direct secondary purchase where Saints acquires positions directly from a fund or portfolio company.

Saints Capital has been actively transacting in the GP-led secondary market for 25 years, making it one of the oldest firms specialising in this category. Its longevity is significant because the GP-led secondary market has changed dramatically over that period, from a niche activity associated primarily with distressed venture funds to a mainstream liquidity tool used by top-tier GPs to extend the hold period of their best portfolio companies, give LPs optionality without forcing a suboptimal exit, and attract new capital from buyers who want access to de-risked late-stage venture exposure.

The GP-Led Secondary Market in 2026

The GP-led secondary market has grown substantially in the post-2021 environment. The extended venture fund cycle that began after the 2021 peak saw many VC funds with portfolio companies that were not ready for IPO or M&A exit on the original fund timeline. Rather than forcing exits into a depressed market, GPs increasingly used continuation funds and other GP-led structures to extend the hold period for their highest-conviction companies. This created demand for buyers like Saints Capital who could provide exit liquidity to existing LPs while allowing the GP to maintain ownership of the asset.

According to market estimates, the global secondaries market exceeded $150 billion in transaction volume in 2025, with GP-led transactions accounting for approximately 50 to 60% of that total. The venture-specific secondary market, where Saints Capital operates, is a subset of the broader secondaries market but has been one of its fastest-growing segments as the venture backlog of companies seeking liquidity has grown. Motive Venture Fund II, also filed on August 24 at $86.9 million across two vehicles, represents another vehicle deploying into this general ecosystem of venture-stage capital.

Why $251M Is a Meaningful Step

Saints Capital has historically managed multiple vehicles with total capital exceeding $1 billion, but individual fund vehicles at $251 million represent a significant scale-up from the firm's earlier vehicles, which were typically in the $50 to $150 million range. The growth in vehicle size reflects both the maturation of the GP-led secondary market and Saints Capital's establishment of a track record that allows it to access larger LP commitments from institutional investors who require a certain minimum fund scale before allocating. For founders and operators, the growth of specialist secondary firms like Saints Capital at larger fund sizes means that the secondary market for VC positions is becoming more liquid and more efficiently priced, which has downstream implications for how much exit flexibility employees, early investors, and founders can expect from their positions. See the AngelLinx live listing to understand the pipeline of companies at stages where secondary activity is most common.

What to Watch

Watch for Saints Capital's SAINTS Secondaries Fund I to announce its first transactions in the next 12 to 18 months. The specific portfolio companies and GPs Saints engages with in its early deals will reveal which segments of the venture secondary market it is targeting at this fund's scale: whether it is primarily working with established top-tier GPs managing continuation vehicles, or also accessing the longer tail of mid-market venture funds where secondaries pricing tends to offer better entry points. Both approaches are viable strategies, but they imply different portfolio concentration and risk profiles. Founders seeking to understand how secondary markets affect their own cap tables can find relevant context in our newsroom or use the investor match tool to connect with investors who understand secondary dynamics.

Founders can also browse current live listings to see which companies at secondary-relevant stages are currently raising. Make your company visible to both primary and secondary investors @ angellinx.ai/register.

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